New Fingerhut catalog launched for holidays

Minneapolis — Less than a year after Federated Department Stores announced that it would dispose of the Fingerhut division, and only a few months after wholesaler Tom Petters and former ceo Ted Deikel purchased the assets, the new 216-page Fingerhut catalog for fall/winter is set to mail on Nov. 9. The website is set to go online within 30 days.

The company is cautiously optimistic, given the current business climate, and the fact that the last Fingerhut catalog mail a year ago. The company will ramp up business over the next few months, based on the initial response.

However, no decision about the catalog's frequency has been made. "We're mailing one catalog out to test the waters," said Mary Pernula, spokeswoman. She would also not disclose circulation numbers, though she said a lot of former Fingerhut customers would receive the catalog.

The initial catalog focuses on general merchandise and will include home textiles, though Pernula declined to compare previous catalogs to this one, since this catalog is a brand new venture. "We're starting fresh and moving forward," she said.

And though the company is new, the name will remain the same. "There's a lot of equity in the name [Fingerhut]," she added.